


Shooting Stars

by Winterose



Series: Star Guardians [3]
Category: League of Legends
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Guardians, F/F, F/M, Gen, Other, Star Guardians, The Void, Void Monsters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-13 01:00:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14739123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winterose/pseuds/Winterose
Summary: The Star Guardian groups will be combined to fight a common enemy too great for five to face alone. The groups have a hard task to work together smoothly and face the unknown horror in another universe.





	1. A Different View

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, reader! Sweet, that you have found my fic. This fic is a part of my Star Guardian series - see the previous works "Burning Bright" and "New Horizon" as well, if you like. This fic should not need the knowledge of my previous fics, though; you can read it as a separate work of art as well. Enjoy your reading!

Darkness fell all around Lux. Her skin glew in the dark the same way as it did when she changed into her Star Guardian form. The stars in the distance went out, one by one, and the darkness grew stronger around her, until it pressed her chest uncomfortably tight.

“Lux!”

The voice that called her name returned Lux back to earth. She opened her eyes and stared right into Jinx’s. 

“Princess is awake”, Jinx announced and grinned. “Morning, starlight.”

“Are you alright?” Poppy asked and peeked behind Jinx. 

“Yeah, I think I am”, Lux answered and sat up, forcing Jinx to get a bit back from her face. “Why? What happened?”

“You passed out”, Janna answered, looking down at Lux a bit worried. “Lulu went looking for a teacher. She should be back soon.”

Lux sighed and swiped some loose hair off her face. Jinx got up from the floor and stretched.

“Since she’s alive, I’ll be off before teacher arrives”, Jinx muttered and walked off. “See ya later, shiny.”

Poppy snorted.

“What an idiot”, she murmured and looked at Lux. “You sure you’re all right?”

Before Lux could answer, Lulu came back with lady Quinn. She was Lux’s home class teacher, though Lux had always been a bit afraid of her. Even after becoming a Star Guardian, the look in Quinn’s eyes made Lux ever uncomfortable. They were sharp and almost birdlike, yellowish brown eyes.

“Luxanna, I heard you passed out”, lady Quinn went down on one knee to be able to look at Lux’s face properly. “You look pale. How do you feel?”

“Fine, I think”, Lux answered. “A bit dizzy.”

“You should go home and rest for today”, Quinn said. “Can you get home by yourself?”

“I could take her home safe”, a boy’s voice commented somewhere behind Lux’s back. Quinn looked up at him.

“If you could, Ezreal”, Quinn nodded. “What lessons do you have today? Can you afford skipping one?”

“Next up would’ve been history, but I’m sure professor Zild understands”, Ezreal answered. He touched lightly Lux’s shoulder. “Can you stand?”

Lux stood slowly up and took a deep breath. She felt really dizzy and had to lean on Ezreal to be able to walk.  _ Thank the First Star Jinx left already, _ she thought. Jinx wasn’t too fond of Ezreal and Lux being friends. She wasn’t too friendly herself, but her usual mocking was different compared to that she did when Ezreal was around. As if she was jealous of Ezreal being a friend to Lux.

~*~

“Thank you”, Lux said as they arrived at the gate of her home. Ezreal whistled, seeing the house for the first time.

“That’s kind of cool”, he said and grinned. “No wonder Jinx calls you princess sometimes.”

“For her it’s like a castle”, Lux sighed and smiled. “A huge house with tens of rooms for only the four of us in the family.”

“Your family is one of the greatest in this town, isn’t it?” it wasn’t really a question, but Lux nodded anyway.

“Yes, it is”, she answered. “Crownguard. A name that anyone knows.”

“You don’t seem too happy about it.”

“I’ve always been proud of my name.”

“Then why do you sound so sad while speaking of your family?”

Lux met Ezreal’s eyes. They both had blue eyes, a bit of different shades though. Or maybe it was the attitude that made difference in the way she saw their eyes. Ezreal’s eyes were full of excitement and lust for adventure, while Lux was more proud and polite, afraid of letting down her parents, her brother, her friends, her Star Guardian team.

“Sometimes I wonder what would I be, if I was born in a lower status family”, Lux blurted and hid her mouth behind her palm right after. She blushed slightly, embarrassed of saying it out loud. Ezreal laughed gently.

“You wouldn’t be you”, he said and hit gently Lux’s shoulder. “You would be someone else. Not that sweet, kind shine of a star you are now.”

Lux stared at Ezreal. She felt odd. Something about his words weren’t right.

“Can you walk in on your own, or do you need me to take you all the way to your bed?” Ezreal’s tone was playful and he winked the way that made Lux feel even more embarrassed.

“I think I can make it on my own”, she murmured. “Thank you, Ezreal.”

“Take care”, Ezreal smiled, waved a hand at Lux and walked off as Lux walked through the gate to their garden and slowly up the stairs leading to their front door.

_ I hope this dizziness goes off with a bit of sleeping, _ she thought, climbing up the stairs to the second floor, where her room was.  _ I feel like there is something I should understand… it’s the same feeling I had when we were about to learn that we are Star Guardians. _

~*~

Ahri stared through the window in the clubroom they had for her group. The sky was clear and turning slowly from pretty blue to darker one through pink and orange that made it look like the skyline behind the city buildings was afire. The stars began to come out, when the light faded and night started falling.

_ The first star is always the most beautiful, _ Ahri thought, looking at the star that had first lit up tonight. It was a bright one, and it soon was accompanied by more and more stars. In the dark silk of the sky, two groups of five stars came out. Ahri closed her eyes. She could see the colours of those ten stars, even though down on earth all the stars seemed the same; colourless, distant, cold. 

_ Ten stars are shining again, _ Ahri thought, opening her eyes. The sky was filled with more stars now, and somewhere further to the left the moon was reflecting light of the sun as well.  _ It has been awhile since the stars have been like that. So close to each other. I wonder if it means something. Stars acting out never means anything good. _

“Are you planning on staying up here all night long?” Syndra’s voice came out from the shadows behind Ahri. Ahri looked over her shoulder and smiled mocking.

“I thought all of you left already”, she said, not answering Syndra’s question. Syndra walked next to Ahri and looked through the window.

“Have you ever seen a star fall?” Syndra asked.

“I hope I won’t”, Ahri closed her eyes. “I never liked shooting stars anyway.”

Syndra looked at Ahri from the corner of her eye.

“Some think shooting stars romantic”, Syndra snorted. Ahri laughed.

“People tend to think beautiful thoughts to hide the sorrow and fear behind them”, she said, straightening her back. “Hope, romantic beliefs, poetry… it’s all lies covered in silky words, a lullaby of false comfort. People like forgetting how cold the world truly is, to feel the warmth in their hearts.”

Syndra stared out of the window. A dark cloud was slowly moving in front of the moon, making the scenery grow darker.

“We should go. Home. Sleep, while we still can”, Ahri turned her back to the window. “It looks like it’ll rain soon. Hurry up, we might still make it home dry.”

Syndra touched the cool glass and followed Ahri out of the building.


	2. In the shadows

_ Ahri… Ahri.. Can you hear me? _

Ahri opened her eyes. She was standing in the middle of a dark lake, stars above her, millions of stars. But five of them burnt brighter than any of the others, and five beside them nearly as bright.

“Yes”, Ahri said, but no voice came out of her mouth. She was however very calm, since she knew what would happen. The First Star was talking to her.

_ Ten stars light the night better than five. As the darkness falls, must the stars be the guidance through the night. But shining bright has its dangers. Be careful, or your shine might not be bright enough to be the shield of the universe. _

As the First Star stopped speaking, the water disappeared under Ahri’s feet and she fell into the darkness, until she woke up in her own bed. One of her tails and her ears had come out during the night, and this morning Ahri had difficulties hiding them again.

~*~

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Miss Fortune snorted when Ahri had repeated the First Star’s words to her team. 

“I bet the First Star meant that we will meet up with another group of Star Guardians”, Ahri said.

“Are there more Star Guardians than us?” Ezreal sounded surprised.

“Yes”, Ahri nodded. “We don’t meet other groups often. Usually every group is on their own, fighting different wars, helping different worlds. You know, I and Miss Fortune had a group before you three joined us. And Syndra had a group of her own earlier too.”

“Wow”, Ezreal whistled. 

“Don’t you think that this is odd?” Miss Fortune asked Ahri. “Star Guardians rarely work with each other. Do you think..”

“We are facing a danger too great for us to handle alone”, Ahri said, looking out of the window. “Together with the ten of us we will be able to handle what five cannot handle alone.”

Miss Fortune seemed to doubt Ahri’s words, but said nothing more. Ahri smiled at her, couraging her.  _ We have been working together for such a long time. We know there are enemies too great even for Star Guardians. _

~*~

Lux startled as she heard the voice in her head. _ You are needed. A small island is under attack. Hurry up, Star Guardians. _

Lux had a look around her. It was evening and she was at a park, writing an essay she had due the day after tomorrow. There was no one around, so Lux concentrated and moved to the Crossroads, where Archmage Ryze pointed the Star Guardians a doorway.

“Through that portal you will get to the island”, he said. “Hurry up, now!”

“Ugh, I was just about to fall asleep”, Jinx yawned. “Come on, let’s start shooting. I wanna go back to my bed.”

“What a lazy gun freak you are”, Poppy rolled her eyes around. “If you would have such a willpower with your duties, you would totally be the most efficient Star Guardian of us!”

“Blah, sorry, I didn’t listen to you”, Jinx grinned over her shoulder. “What did you cry out about again?”

Poppy looked mad and was about to snap something clever back, when Lux reminded them to stay focused during a mission. It was a whole different thing to fight while cooking or doing homework than while being on a mission and most likely in danger.

“There is the island”, Lulu said. “We are not alone. There is ten.”

The Star Guardians landed on the island. To their horror, what Lulu had said about ten was not correct. There were hundreds of small creatures, that all ran around the island, breaking whatever they faced, and making the citizens scream and run off in terror. The little things seemed harmless enough to encounter, though their number was the thing that made Lux’s skin go on goosebumps.

“Let’s get rid of these bugs”, Lux said. Off to the battle the Star Guardians flew, and after a while they had to admit that there were more than hundreds of bugs to defeat. They didn’t seem to end, no matter how many they killed; out of the shadows would always crawl more of the creatures for them to fight.

“Do these monsters have no end?” Lux puffed. She started to feel exhausted.

“Anyone got some effective bug killer?” Jinx joked and shot a row of monsters with her minigun. 

“Am I the only one who doesn’t find this a time for jokes?” Poppy puffed while hammering down monsters one or two at a time. Janna and Lulu kept on giving shields to their allies, trying to shoot any enemy who dared to come too close to them.

“They are coming”, Lulu said all of a sudden. She had frozen where she stood, looking up at the sky. A few monsters took the chance and darted towards her.

“Lulu, watch out!” Poppy shouted and jumped in front of Lulu. Monsters smashed against her hammer, but stopped right there.

“Careful!” for a short moment Lux paid attention to her teammates and was about to get bitten by a few monsters. She saw them arrive from the corner of her eye, but didn’t have time to turn around anymore.  _ I’m screwed, _ she thought, closing her eyes, waiting for the painful hit in her back.

The hit never came. Instead someone grabbed her gently in their arms and warped her a bit further from the closest monsters. Lux opened her eyes, confused by the change, and looked up to her savior.

“Don’t worry. I’ll handle it.”

The boy was not much taller than Lux. His blonde hair had some blue highlight in it, and as spikes it rose from his head. His clothes were blue and white and gold, the gauntlet in his left hand shone brightly in the same way the star in his chest did.  _ Another Star Guardian, _ Lux knew. But the person she saw in front of her was the last person she’d thought to be a Star Guardian.

“Ezreal?!” Lux gasped. Ezreal grinned and nodded.

“The one and only”, he answered. “Didn’t expect to see you on the battlefield, though.”

“You stole my words”, Jinx flew next to them, glaring at Ezreal. “Couldn’t keep your hands off our princess, huh?”

“He saved me”, Lux murmured. Ezreal let Lux stand on her own.

“Sorry to end your conversation, but we have a job to do”, a voice interrupted them. Lux and Jinx looked at the speaker. She was a sexy girl with light orange hair and clothes of red, white and gold. She shot a few monsters with her guns while the creatures were about to crawl towards them.

“Sure, MF, sorry”, Ezreal grinned again and flew next to his comrade. “Time to fight!”

Miss Fortune gave Lux and Jinx a slightly contemptuous look before entering the battle with her group. With them the battle was done in no time. Once every monster had either been killed or ran away, all ten Star Guardians landed back on the ground.

“They were fewer than the last time”, Ezreal stretched his arms.

“This sure was easier than the last time”, Ahri admitted. She smiled at Ezreal. “Good job there, pretty boy.”

Ezreal grinned and answered something back to Ahri. She laughed with a beautiful, tinkling laughter. Lux stared at the five new Star Guardians in front of her. They were gorgeous. Ahri was their leader, for sure; a charming, beautiful nine-tailed fox with a lot of self-consciousness and pride. Miss Fortune seemed more serious, but clearly knew what she was doing. Ezreal was probably the most noisy one, grinning endlessly and joking with everyone. The shy one’s name Lux caught by accident; she was Soraka, the ultimate healer of their team. One was left alone, and only Ahri seemed to pay attention to Syndra, the darkest of them. If Jinx had sometimes made Lux feel insecure, Syndra topped that. She creeped the crap out of Lux.

“You’re Luxanna, right?” Ahri walked to Lux. Lux startled and nodded. Ahri looked at her properly from toes to head and smiled. “The leader, huh? You seem a bit fragile to lead a Star Guardian team.”

“Excuse me miss perfect, Lux is just as good a leader as you are”, Jinx grabbed Lux by her shoulders and wrinkled her nose at Ahri. Ahri laughed.

“I’m sorry, didn’t mean to underrate you guys”, she said, smiling.  _ Damn she’s beautiful, _ Lux thought. “You just don’t seem much more than a group of school girls here.”

“What is wrong with you?” Poppy snapped. Lulu grabbed her hand, as if trying to stop her from saying anything stupid.

“Nothing”, Ahri smiled. “A little bit of joking shouldn’t drive a Star Guardian off their mind, right?”

“Ahri”, Miss Fortune called. “Stop teasing the kids. We have things to get done.”

Miss Fortune stood with her arms crossed, rolling her eyes around while Ahri laughed and told her to chill.

“We need to have a proper talk”, Ahri said. “Come with us to our club room in the Piltower, tomorrow at five.”

Without waiting for an answer Ahri turned around and walked off, her tails wiggling after her.

“Oh, and for your information”, Ahri looked at them over her shoulder. “It was not a request. It was an order from the First Star.”


	3. There's much to learn from this world

“Did you know about the other Star Guardians?” Poppy asked the others while they walked towards Piltower that day. 

“I’ve had visions of their stars”, Lulu nodded happily.

“No idea”, Jinx yawned. “Honestly, I don’t give a fuck. They could go back to the world they are supposed to protect and leave us alone.”

“I don’t know. If you’d asked me before we met them, I would probably have said no. But now.. I’m not surprised by their existence. Maybe I’ve known it after all”, Lux shrugged. “How about you, Janna? You’re the oldest of us, after all.”

“I knew”, Janna admitted. “I’ve always known.”

“Well, great, how about not having secrets from us, oldie?” Jinx rolled her eyes around.

“It wasn’t important”, Janna answered.

“You would have forgotten it anyway”, Poppy snorted as they entered the building and walked to the lifts. Lux pressed the right floor number, but Jinx couldn’t help but press the rest of the buttons down as well. She laughed when Poppy raged at her about it, calling Poppy a “serious-face” and “too short to be taken seriously”.

The way up to the floor where the club room was felt like taking ages. When they finally arrived at the right floor, Poppy marched out of the lift being ready to hit Jinx if she called her names one more time. Lux felt exhausted by their fighting. She had been tired all day, since they had been on duty last night and they all had a long day at school behind. Lulu had almost fallen asleep as well, and Poppy had had to keep her awake.

Lux knocked on the door. Took only a short time for Soraka to open the door.

“Welcome”, she said, smiling sweetly. Lux’s Star Guardian group entered the club room and all of them looked around in awe. The room was huge, nicely decorated and had a good sight out of the window. In one corner they had a kitchen, where Miss Fortune and Ezreal were making coffee and tea for them. Ezreal was actually putting cookies on a plate, when the five of them arrived. 

“Oh, you’re early”, Ahri smiled and put down the magazine she had in her hands. “Sit down.”

They sat all on the couches and armchairs around a glass table close to the window. Ezreal, Miss Fortune and Soraka brought them cups, tea, coffee, some milk, sugar and cookies. They sat around the table as well. For a moment no one said a thing; everyone took either coffee or tea, and Jinx and Lulu grabbed cookies at first.

_ Those cookies won’t last for long _ , Lux thought. She held the warm cup in her hands, feeling how it warmed her skin.  _ It’s not even cold outside. Why am I trembling, then? _

“Wasn’t there a reason you called us here?” Janna was finally the first to open her mouth. She met Ahri’s eyes. For a moment Lux thought she sensed something between them, but then Ahri smiled and agreed.

“The First Star wanted for us to work together”, Ahri started. She couldn’t continue, before Jinx, her mouth filled with cookies, interrupted: “Wait a second! Aren’t we reborn from the previous Star Guardians, huh?”

“Not exactly”, Ahri shook her head.

“We carry the previous Star Guardians’ powers inside”, Miss Fortune explained. “We carry their passion, their love for the universe, their will to protect every living creature inside our hearts.”

“Star Guardians’ faith is written when they are born”, Janna commented.

“So they say”, Ahri made a face. “I dare to disagree. I believe we can change our faith by will.”

“You don’t know what is written in our lifeline”, Janna knit her eyebrows.

“Do you really believe everything down to our deaths is written down?” Ahri stared at Janna. “No. We can change our destiny. We don’t have to die where our path is supposed to end.”

“Aren’t we getting off tracks here?” Jinx stretched her arms. “I thought foxy had something important to tell us.”

Ahri looked at Jinx, smiled and nodded. “You’re right on that one, Jinx”, she admitted and sipped of her cup.

_ I was sure she would kill Jinx or something, _ Lux sighed.  _ I just can’t read her. She’s way above my level, for sure. _

“We are facing an enemy way too hard to take on alone”, Ahri said, suddenly serious about it. “We don’t know who or what it is, but something way too dangerous for a team to face alone. Two teams should be enough, though. Or so the First Star seems to think. But we’ll have to be careful anyway.”

“Right”, Poppy nodded. “Sounds pretty dangerous.”

“I’m sure we’ll be able to handle it”, Ezreal grinned. “You are strong, we are strong. What could go wrong?”

“Everything”, Miss Fortune looked at Ezreal. “Everything can go wrong, if even one person fails to take things seriously when they should be.”

“Chill, MF”, Ezreal rolled his eyes around. “I’m not going to goof around. We can handle this, seriously. Dig your sense of humour up again.”

“For once I can agree with pretty boy”, Jinx grinned. “Carrot seems to have her headband way too tight around her head.”

“Who are you calling a carrot?” Miss Fortune seemed to be very offended by Jinx’s words. Ahri sighed.

“Calm down, Sarah”, she pleaded. “We’re not here to fight each other. We should learn to work  _ together _ .”

Everyone went quiet after that. Syndra sat in the corner, grinning at the others. Jinx and Lulu were both about to grab the last cookie, and seeing Lulu’s sad face Jinx cracked the cookie in two and let Lulu have the other piece while ate the other herself. Poppy seemed pretty pissed off by them eating all the cookies, but said nothing. 

“Should we do something?” Soraka said quietly and looked up from her cup. “To make our teamwork better. Get to know each other, play games or something.”

“I’m up for games!” Jinx shouted and jumped up.

“Board games or video games?” Ezreal asked.

“Why not both?” Lux shrugged.

“Sure”, Ahri smiled. “I can bring a TV and gaming console here.”

“I have extra controllers and some games”, Jinx grinned. “It will be awesome. I will beat everyone up!”

“You wish”, Ezreal grinned. “I’ll accept the challenge.”

“Wanna make a bet?” Jinx looked at Ezreal. “The one with most wins in games gets a kiss from Lux!”

Lux startled and blushed.

“Jinx, what are you talking about?” she muttered. Jinx winked.

“Don’t worry, starlight, I will beat that pretty boy anyday.”

“How about next weekend?” Ahri smiled. “Everyone brings whatever video games or board games they have, some food and sleeping bags for night.”

“A weekend with games and beating people in them? Sounds good”, Jinx grinned. Lux sighed.

“Sounds like a plan”, she agreed. “Fine. Let’s do this!”


	4. Fear the Void

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear reader. If you want to know what happened during the weekend with the Star Guardians, go read a fic posted to this series called Shooting Stars: Ready, set, GO! If you don't care about the weekend, you can continue reading from here.

Weekend spent together with games and food  _ was _ a good idea. During the weekend everyone seemed to relax a bit, at least enough to be able to work together. Not all of the tension was gone, but it was better than nothing.

“That was AWESOME!” Jinx cheered. 

“Let’s do this again sometime”, Ahri said, smiling while closing the door behind her. 

“We sure do”, Lux smiled as well. “It was a lot of fun!”

“See you in the school tomorrow”, Ezreal waved at the girls as he started to walk away. “Let’s have a rematch sometime! Bye!”

“Bye”, everyone else went to their homes as well. They had barely had the night’s sleep, when they were called for duty.

_ The creatures of Void are attacking. You are needed immediately! _

Leaving their comfortable beds to fight the creatures of Void. If Miss Fortune’s opinion was asked, it was the most annoying way to start a day.  _ I hope we are done with this quickly, _ she thought, changing into her Star Guardian uniform. 

They stopped only shortly at the Crossroads. When everyone was there, all ten Star Guardians flew through the gate Archmage Ryze pointed them, and straight to the world attacked by the creatures of Void. Once a warm world with tingling sunshine and gentle rains was now filled with darkness and fear. Clouds as dark as black and purple and blue could be filled the sky, and somewhere in the distance a dim purple light where the world ended and Void began.

“This is horrible”, Lux whispered as they flew towards the center of the world, a land where the monsters were conquering the innocent world to be one of their own. Those few who were lucky enough to escape ran like crazy, crying and screaming in horror.

“I’m scared”, Lulu whispered. Poppy grabbed her hand.

“Don’t worry. They are just creepies”, Poppy said, giving Lulu a brave smile. “You know what we do with the creepies, don’t you?”

“We bring them light”, Lulu smiled shyly. “Peace, love and justice.”

“That’s right”, Poppy nodded. “There’s nothing more powerful than the starlight.”

“Well, maybe the light of the sun and the moon”, Jinx looked over her shoulder, grinning. Lux sighed.

“Technically, the sun is a star as well”, Miss Fortune corrected. “It’s just closer to the earth and looks bigger and brighter because of that. And moon reflects the light of the sun, so it’s just a big reflector in the sky.”

“Joy killer”, Jinx blurted her tongue out.

“Cut it off”, Ahri snapped suddenly. “Focus on our mission.”

“Ahri is right”, Lux agreed. “We’ll have to focus now. We can do this.”

“You don’t sound too confident”, Ezreal said, looking at Lux. “Are you nervous?”

_ Yes, I am, but I can’t let that show, _ Lux thought, and forced a smile on her face.

“I’m just fine”, she nodded. “We are strong, and we are together. The ten of us can do this. It’s nothing to be worried about.”

Ezreal smiled.

“Good”, he sighed. “Because there are the first monsters to slay.”

In the distance, somewhere Ezreal pointed at, the creatures of Void were now seeable. The air started to feel heavy to breathe and the voices of the creatures filled their ears.

“Here we go”, Ahri said quietly and dashed towards the monsters, the rest of the Star Guardians right behind her.

The creatures were all odd and twisted, dark and mean, running and jumping towards the Star Guardians without a millisecond of hesitation. They were mindless, fearless monsters, fighting to bring down anything that wasn’t from the Void, anything that was supposed to be weaker than them. The Star Guardians put down monster after another, and again and again, fighting several monsters at a time, never alone for long; they stayed close to each other, working as two or three, to cover each other’s backs.

Creatures came in waves. When the previous wave was nearly gone, the next one was already rolling in, filled with dark energy that seemed to absorb the energy of the Star Guardians as the fight went on and on and on.

“Protect Soraka for a while”, Ahri shouted when a smaller wave of Void creatures came in. “We’ll take care of these with MF and Jinx.”

Lulu, Poppy, Janna, Syndra and Lux moved closer to Soraka, to keep her in their center to be able to protect her from every direction. Soraka took a deep breath.

“Soraka, we count on you”, Ezreal shouted as he blinked to face a group of monster a bit further from her. Soraka smiled lightly.

_ “Stars hear me” _ , Soraka called out. Her voice echoed in everyone’s minds and a yellowish-green light glew upon them. It felt like they had new energy from her words. The spell she had cast, strengthened them better than the spells she normally cast. 

“Thank you!” Lux shouted, charging her light for a new round of monsters. “That really helped!”

“What was that?” Jinx asked, blowing a row of monsters up. “I feel really energetic! Woohoo!”

“Focus!” Ahri snapped.

“Having fun is prohibited”, Jinx murmured, but closed her mouth whatsoever.

After countless of monsters slain and several spellcasts later they faced another great foe. Along with the smaller creatures came bigger ones, five huge monsters that roared when they went on. The sight of them froze the Star Guardians for a short moment. The five of them were uglier and clearly more intelligent than the smaller ones. The big ones seemed actually leading the smaller ones to fight. From their roaring could be heard words, twisted and ugly, horrifying words that starved for darkness, destruction and bringing the world down to Void.

_ They are communicating, _ Lux though, swallowing. Lulu took a few small steps to move behind Poppy, who squeezed her hammer harder than ever. Syndra moved in front of Soraka.

“Get ready”, Ahri said calmly. Her heart was pounding fast, faster than ever, but her voice was clear and steady, her eyes sharp and focused. “Soraka, Lulu and Janna, move a bit further back. Lux, Jinx, Poppy, prepare to defend your supports. MF, Ez, Syndra, get ready for a battle.”

Everyone moved in position, ready to face the five terrors. 

Hearts racing, senses sharp, the Star Guardians stood in their places as the shadow of the five creatures fell on them. They were even more terrifying from up close. Their eyes were glowing, limbs were ready for a bloodbath. The growling they made had the Guardians shiver. A cold wind blew through them as the creatures stopped right in front of the Star Guardians.


	5. No escape

The air was stiff and heavy, hard to breathe, filled with dark energy like an incoming storm of destruction. The Star Guardians stood still, facing the creatures of Void.

“Have you come to challenge us, filthy bugs?” the largest of the creatures asked with a voice echoing from the ruins around them.

“Just between us, you’re the ones looking like bugs”, Jinx murmured so quiet that only Lux could hear her. Lux bit her lip and took a deep breath.

“We are the Star Guardians”, Ahri announced, stepping forward. “We are the protectors of this universe and we’ve come to protect what is in danger.”

“This land is ours now”, a smaller creature rattled, stepping from a foot to another, something green dropping from its mouth.

“This land does not belong to you”, Ahri said, loud and powerful. Her whole body seemed to glow. Lux felt the strength grow inside of her as well.

“Crawl back to the shadows”, Lux shouted.

“Interesting”, another creature, a one with tentacles and one, huge eye, muttered, looking at the Star Guardians. “So small… yet so confident. I wonder how detailed their brain must be, to come up with such… dedication. I must know more.”

“Fear the Void”, another one of the snarled and made a rattling noise with its wings. The last creature just growled, and no words could be detected.

“We are not afraid of you”, Ahri said. “And we will not let you take this world and sink it under your own.”

“Clever creatures”, the one with wings said, almost like laughing the words out. 

“Worthless creatures”, the biggest one roared. “I will devour all disgusting humans!”

“Just for the record, half of us aren’t even humans”, Jin grinned, but spoke again so quiet that it was barely hearable by Lux, who stood right next to her. This time Lux didn’t listen to her, though, and Poppy only rolled her eyes and asked quietly if Jinx ever took anything serious in her life.

“Eat them!” the big creature roared and the winged one rattled: “Hunt them down!”

The five creatures rushed towards the Star Guardians, along with some smaller creatures. Most of the little ones ran straight past the Guardians and went onward to find something else to destroy.

“Should we go help the citizens?” Soraka whispered, looking over her shoulder.

“No”, Janna said quietly. “We’ll have to take these down. Watch out!”

Janna threw a shield on Soraka as a big blast of some green slime splatted on her. The slime came down on the shield and hissed as it poured to the ground.

“Are you all right?” Lulu asked.

“Yes”, Soraka nodded and concentrated on her allies again. The small creatures were not the big problem, and they were all gone before the bigger creatures made it to the Star Guardians.

“Move!” Ahri advised. “Don’t let them catch you!”

As if they were one, everyone moved at once, keeping the formation the best they could. The fight seemed to be tough, and the ground was dangerous to stay for any longer time. Spikes, slime, grumbling, holes, nowhere was steady and safe. Quick attacks, moving, quick spellcasts. It was all about the speed and agility this time.

It almost looked like the Star Guardians had it under control. They were faster than the Void monsters, and even though their attacks weren’t as strong, they would eventually make the monsters tired and easier to beat back to the Void. Lux binded the small, clumsy one and dodged its green slime once again. She could feel a slight bit of exhaustion in her, but she tried to push the feeling away.  _ I can’t collapse here. If I do, we’re in trouble. _

“Hey fat ass bug, you like the taste of my bullets?” Jinx taunted as she shot at the biggest creature. The creature roared back at her, forcing her fly away from it.

“I’m not sure if making them even more mad is the best option here”, Poppy rolled her eyes. Jinx grinned.

“This gets boring”, Jinx said, yawning. “They are big, clumsy and ugly, but take really no damage from our weapons. So, what’s the point of just hopping around? I want some action!”

Poppy opened her mouth to answer to Jinx, who had already turned away to shoot at something again. The ground shook and opened underneath Poppy’s feet, revealing purple light shining from the wound. Slowly Poppy looked down to meet the purple shine.

“Poppy!” Lulu’s quiet scream rang from somewhere. Her green shield surrounded Poppy, and Poppy jumped as far from the crack as she could. From the corner of her eye she could see Lulu, who looked after her both scared and relieved. For a short moment Lulu was too concerned about Poppy and forgot to keep an eye on her own surroundings. Another crack appeared on the ground just under Lulu’s feet and the purple light lit her fragile body. From afar Poppy could see a purple bolt fly towards Lulu as well.

“Lulu!” Poppy shouted and ran towards her friend. Lulu was out of energy, for sure. She tried to move, but she was way too slow.  _ I’ll have to block that bolt. I’ll have to! _ Poppy thought, trying to make it between Lulu and the purple bolt before it was too late.

When the bolt hit them, a flash of purple light blinded everyone nearby. Lux turned around to see what had caused the flash and saw Poppy and Lulu lay in ground, Poppy reaching out to touch Lulu’s hand, eyes barely open. 

_ No _ , Lux thought, tears filling her eyes.  _ This cannot happen. It can’t! _

“Lux, watch out!” Jinx’s voice rang in her ears and a hand caught Lux just in time, taking her away from a bunch of spikes growing up from the ground exactly where she had stood a moment ago.

“Jinx”, Lux looked at her teammate, confused and upset. Jinx bit her teeth together, looking angry.

“They will pay for that”, Jinx murmured and flew off with Shiro and Kuro, leaving Lux where she stood. Lux opened her mouth to shout after Jinx, but no sound came out. She was frozen, left staring at her friends and comrades fight the monsters way too great for their powers.

“Lux, are you all right?” Ahri dashed to her. Lux met her eyes.  _ Ahri looks so confident, determined, strong. She’s everything a Star Guardian should be _ , Lux thought, feeling suddenly so small and weak compared to Ahri.

“I…” Lux struggled to speak. “I’m not…”

“We need you”, Ahri interrupted her, grabbing Lux by both shoulders. “We need you, Lux. Don’t give in to the sorrow. That’s what they want. They feed on our fears, our weakness. Stay strong and fight with us.”

Ahri’s eyes were sparkling. For a second Lux got lost in them, and when she startled, she felt better. She nodded to Ahri and flew together with her, back to the monsters, with new strength inside.


	6. Oblivion Come

Ahri struggled to breathe. It was exhausting to dash around, dodging the attacks of the monsters and attacking them whenever she was close enough to hit.

_ Everyone looks so tired _ , she noted when looking around. Miss Fortune and Soraka were protecting Janna, who tried to wake Poppy and Lulu up. Syndra was fighting a bit further with the small slimy creature, while Ezreal, Lux and Jinx where in another direction.  _ We should retreat. Before anyone else gets hurt. This world is lost. _

Ahri dodged an attack and dashed towards Miss Fortune, Soraka and Janna.  _ If we go now, it might not be too late yet to revive Poppy and Lulu either. Their hearts were not stopped when Janna picked them up. _

A beam of purple light cut Ahri’s way. She stopped to dodge it and heard screams of pain.

“Sarah! Soraka!” Ahri shouted, feeling a pain in her heart she had never felt before.  _ It’s like part of me dying _ , she thought, fighting back a choking feeling in her throat. The beam cut her way, so she had to try going around it.

“Retreat!” she shouted while going, forcing her voice rise over the sound of the monsters’ roars. “Retreat! Retreat!”

Lux startled. Ahri’s voice rang in her ears and inside of her head, as if it was more of telepathy than speech she heard. Lux looked at the direction of the bright beam, where Ahri was dashing around it to find the others.

_ No, _ Lux bit her lip.  _ That they cannot survive. _

“Lux!” Jinx shouted. She was way too far away from her, shooting at the creatures to keep them off. “What are we doing? Are we really retreating?”

Lux took a deep breath.

“Yes”, she answered, loud and clear. Jinx made a  _ tsk _ sound, but flew off from the monsters anyway. Lux knew Jinx couldn’t stand it, but she would follow Lux’s orders, bitter but still. Lux was about to turn around, when one of the creatures, small and agile, jumped towards her back.

“Lux! No!” Jinx’s voice woke Lux’s awareness. She startled and turned her head to see the bug approach, its sharp front feet ready to strike… but they never hit Lux. A blink of light and someone appeared between Lux and the creature. A sharp breathe in, when the blades of the creature hit their new target. Lux threw a ball of light at the creature, and from this distance she sent it crawling backwards, hissing and crying about the burning light.

Ezreal fell to his knees, struggling to breathe. The front feet blades had struck him bad through his chest, and the white of his uniform dyed red from blood. Lux caught Ezreal before he fell completely to the ground. She noted Jinx fly to them, holding her gun up ready to protect them, but she couldn’t look up at Jinx. Lux stared at Ezreal, whose breathing sounded painful and eyes were dim, only half open.

“Don… worry…” he smiled, reaching his shaking hand to touch gently Lux’s cheek. “A…. can han… l it…”

Lux’s eyesight went blurry when tears filled her eyes. Ezreal closed his eyes and his hand fell down. Lux couldn’t hear him breathe anymore.

“No, no, Ez”, Lux whispered, shaking her head. “You can’t.”

“Lux, we gotta go”, Jinx shouted and grabbed Lux by the arm. “We gotta go. Now!”

Jinx was dragging Lux up. Still unable to see properly, Lux lifted Ezreal’s unmoving body and followed Jinx, flying as fast as she could. She felt the presence of other Star Guardians, but sorrow, fear and pain made it fuzzy. She couldn’t tell who were flying on their own and who were carried by someone else.

They flew through the gate to the Crossroad right before Archmage Ryze closed it and sealed it to not be opened ever again. Exhausted and powerless, they fell on the floor, not paying attention where they were, but knowing they were safe now. Lux felt as if she was inside a bubble of some sort. She could hear voices, both angry and desperate, but could not recognize who was talking. Tears made her eyes fuzzy, and when she tried to get up on her feet, she fainted.

~*~

Lux opened her eyes. She lay on her back in a garden filled with soft noises. Carefully she rose up to look around. Ahri was sitting on a rock next to a quietly flowing river, looking at the water play in its course.

“Ahri”, Lux whispered. Ahri’s fox ears stirred a bit, and she turned to look at Lux. She was hard to read, as usual, but Lux could sense a great pain in her as well as in her own chest.

“You’re awake”, Ahri said, giving out a small smile of relief. “Good.”

“Where”, Lux breathed in, feeling her whole body shiver. “Where is everyone?”

“Who are still alive, are getting rest”, Ahri answered. “Those who didn’t make it, lay on the field behind the river.”

Lux struggled to get on her feet. She was shaking, almost out of energy to even walk on her own, but somehow she made it to the riverbend. Ahri helped her sit on a rock next to her, and looked across the water. There was a field of shy green grass and dimly shining flowers, water steam floating above the small island-like field. Somewhere behind the field Lux could see a gate, covered in clouds and rays of sunlight. On the field lay four people next to each other, as if they were asleep rather than dead. Lux could feel something in her throat, a cry she tried to hold back. Tears were tingling in her eyes, but she fought them back to be able to see her friends laying in the grass.

“Lulu, Poppy, Soraka and Ezreal”, Lux whispered. “They… they were…”

“Brave”, Ahri completed Lux’s sentence. “They fulfilled their destiny.”

“They died fighting a lost battle”, Janna’s voice behind them caught Lux surprised. She looked over her shoulder and saw Janna stand only a few steps away from them. Janna was serious as ever, a slight bit of blame in her eyes as she looked at Lux and Ahri.  _ Does she blame us for forcing the fight… or herself for not being able to save them? _ Lux thought.

“Are the others awake as well?” Ahri asked. Janna nodded.

“They are back there, under the flowering tree.”

Lux got up on her feet and walked past Janna, towards the tree growing on the top of a hill she had not seen earlier. Janna and Ahri followed her quietly.

“There you are”, Jinx down from a branch of the tree where she had sat, to greet Lux with a hug. “Sleepyhead starlight, you’re finally awake.”

“Yeah”, Lux smiled sadly.  _ It’s not like Jinx to hug anyone. What’s happened? _

“We are five remaining of ten”, Ahri said quietly.

“Five?” Lux knit her eyebrows and looked around. “Where.. is Syndra?”

“Gone”, Janna whispered. Ahri pouted her lips.

“But she…”

“She’s not dead”, Ahri said putting a hand on Lux’s shoulder. “But she won’t be with us either.”

“I don’t understand”, Lux whispered.

“She got in a fight with Janna and archmage”, Jinx snorted. “Long story short, se flew off.”

“What did she do?” Lux still couldn’t understand it.

“Nothing wrong”, Ahri snapped. “She should be here with us, but she’s not. If it comes to me, she will be with us again.”

A deep silence fell between the five of them.

“So”, Jinx kicked a rock, “what now?”

“We will rest”, Ahri said, peeking towards the river behind them. “When we are back in condition, we will continue as a new Star Guardian group again.”

“Fulfilling our duty, hm”, Miss Fortune snorted. “That’s what you should say, but you won’t.”

“You know me well, Sarah”, Ahri looked at her friend. “I won’t say that.”

“And why not?” Jinx asked, looking curious.

“They say Star Guardians live through a line of their written destiny”, Ahri explained. “We are born when we are needed, we live our destined life and die when it’s our time. Being born from light, we burn, and just like the stars, some of us will burn bright for only a moment, whereas some will burn decades.”

“And this all is going.. where?” Jinx rolled her eyes.

“I don’t care what our destiny is written to be”, Ahri said sharply. “I don’t care if a Star Guardian team is ought to be us five.”

“You want to go after Syndra”, Lux said quietly.

“Yes”, Ahri nodded. “And I will do it with or without you.”

“We will”, Miss Fortune corrected. Ahri smiled at her.

Lux stared at the two of them.  _ There’s a strong bond between those three _ , she noted.  _ Ahri, Miss Fortune and Syndra. There’s more than just a forced connection. _

“I want to find her as well”, Lux heard her own voice talk. “If she did nothing wrong, she should not be banished.”

“Don’t you think about going without me”, Jinx grinned. “I’m not leaving you alone. You need someone to protect you pretty face.”

Lux smiled at Jinx.

“What about you, Janna?” Ahri looked at her. Janna looked at everyone, one at a time, clearly unamused by the turn they had taken.

“Why so serious, oldie?” Jinx reached to poke Janna’s cheek. “Don’t you wanna fix whatever is wrong here?”

Janna waved Jinx’s hand off from her face.

“I will follow my leader”, she said, as if it was another vow she was about to take. She looked straight into Lux’s eyes, though Lux was pretty sure it was Ahri who was supposed to be their leader.

“We should get rest now”, Ahri said, touching gently Janna’s shoulder. “Let’s all go home. Back to Earth.”

They left the garden all together, as a new team formed to protect the universes, with a mission of their own. 


	7. Epilogue

The Council of the Worlds stood upon the edge of the universe, stars floating around them, looking down at the new Star Guardian team formed of the remainings of the two.

“Should we stop them?” someone asked; she was young, only an apprentice, a child of starlight born from the universe itself. She waved her feet over the edge, looking up at the Council.

“They make their own path in life”, Karma answered her. “Between fulfilling and abandoning their destiny… they choose both and none.”

“Well, ain’t that cryptic”, the child sighed. “How do we know if it’s a good or a bad thing?”

“I knew you would ask that”, Zilean smiled. “We don’t know that yet, though. Only time will show where the path they have chosen will lead us to.”

“Can’t we just go through all the timelines and see if it’s worth or not?” the child asked.

“We will not touch time unless it’s the only option”, Ryze said strictly. “We don’t want to mess the timeline the world has chosen to go.”

“Aww, that’s boring”, the child pouted her lips. “Can I go visit the past, though? I liked the boy back there. Can I go get him back?”

“I repeat my words”, Ryze said, “we will not touch time.”

“Aww, but I liked him”, the kid murmured.

“Do not question our authority”, Ryze commanded. Zilean patted the child’s head.

“I understand how you feel”, he said gently. “But some things are meant to be, and rules are there to protect the universes. You will understand one day, when you grow up.”

“I don’t want to grow up”, the child said. “I want to be child forever and play with aaalll the kids in the universe!”

“As you wish”, Zilean nodded.

After a short silence a voice rang around the Council, making the child jump fast up, looking around excited.

_ “The Star Guardians of Bright Horizon will change the world. Let them walk the path they have chosen and see the world find its balance.” _

“Space doggy!” the child screamed and looked around. “Let me hug you, where are you? Come here, starry doge!”

“Let the universe be”, Ryze sighed and caught the child in a rune trap. The child murmured something too quiet to hear. “Go to sleep.”

The child disappeared and left the Council where it stood. A sweet silence fell upon them, until Karma spoke again.

“Here begins the path to a new balance”, she said, marking her words in the stars. “Let it be for peace rather than chaos… and smiles rather than tears.”

As the universe kept on spinning in silence, slowly changing with every breath, every timeless second, the eyes of the universe were set upon those who would change its course.  _ When the time comes, the stars will be rewritten in the hearts of those who are just to bend the rules of the galaxies. _


End file.
